PRAYING WITH EXPECTATION DEMANDS PREPARATION

Philippine Theological College
Salomague Sur, Pangasinan Philippines
God is to be praised and thanked for His bountiful blessings which have enabled us to establish Philippine Theological College, located in Salomague Sur, Pangasinan Philippines. The college exists for the sole purpose of training men for ministry in the Philippines and for missionary service in China when God opens that door of opportunity. It seems that China is moving towards opening her doors to the outside world as they embrace free enterprise in a free market economy. This will necessitate the need for China to open her doors for the free flow of not only goods but other peoples who will bring various religions with them.

Years ago we prayed for God to open the doors of the Soviet Union so we could preach a message of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ (II Cor.5:17-21). God answered those prayers and the Soviet Union was dissolved. We had prayed without expectation or preparation. We had to play “catch up” in evangelism for five years. Even though we were ill prepared we still baptized thousands in the former Soviet Union, establishing congregations on the East of Russia, the West of Russia, from Moscow up through Northern Russia, Siberia to the Arctic Ocean and even on the Sakhalin Island. We also established congregations in Ukraine. However, I have often wondered what we might have done had we been prepared. There is an old Portuguese proverb that goes like this, “If you don’t have a dog; hunt with a cat!” What does that mean? It means do the best you can with what you’ve got! That is what we had to do regarding evangelism in the former Soviet Union. We must not allow history to repeat itself. We need to prepare for the day China opens her doors to the outside world.

Praying without expectation reminds me of the farmers who had experienced a drought for several years. They decided to get together to pray for rain. You may know the story for it has been told many times. When they got together to pray for rain no one had brought an umbrella! They were praying without expectation.
Recorded in the book of Acts is a Biblical story of Christians praying without expectation. In Acts 12 we read where Herod the king had lifted his hand to harass some in the church. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. He saw it pleased the Jews so he imprisoned Peter and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him. In verse five we read, “Peter was therefore, kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”

Please get the picture: Peter was in prison and the church was having prayer sessions for his deliverance. We can imagine the saints asking God fervently with great solicitation that He deliver Peter from the hands of King Herod. God answered their prayer with a “Yes” and an angel delivered Peter from prison. Peter immediately went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the saints were meeting. Peter knocked at the gate and the Bible says a girl named Rhoda rushed out to open the gate. When she heard Peter’s voice the Bible indicates she was so glad that she forgot to open the gate to let Peter enter. She ran and told the Christians in the prayer session that Peter was at the gate. What followed next is both revealing and even a little humorous; it revealed that they were praying without expectation. They told Rhoda, “You are beside yourself!” But Rhoda insisted that Peter was in fact standing at the gate. These Christians then declared, “It is his angel.” Peter continued to knock at the gate for entrance and when they finally went to open the gate they saw him and the text states “they were astonished.” Why should they have been astonished? Had they not asked God to release Peter from prison? Obviously, they had prayed without expectation! Do we not often do the same today? Let us pray in faith and urgency that God will open the doors of communist China so that we can have an opportunity to evangelize that massive number of souls for our Lord. However, let us never pray without expectation. Let us pray and then prepare!

That is what we are trying to do with the Lord’s help at Philippine Theological College located on the South China Sea just across from mainland China. God has blessed us with a four-year Bible college for the purpose of preparing men for ministry in the Philippines and to later on be missionaries to China when God opens that door of opportunity for evangelism. Our responsibility is to pray and prepare!

God Has Blessed Us With a “School of Tyrannus Opportunity”
Acts 19